Monday, June 19, 2006

Spoonbill at Walthamstow Reservoirs

The Spoonbill in London hung around allowing me the chance to see it yesterday – not that it looked like it had any intention of going anywhere. In a couple of hours observation of the bird on the island of East Warwick reservoir, it did, well, not very much. It was probably a Dutch-ringed individual judging by the leg rings. I’m surprised it could roost for so long as it was surrounded by a noisy colony of Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls with begging chicks and an equally raucous group of Common Tern broods on a nearby raft. Also around were Banded Demoiselles and Emperors, and lots of Painted Ladies and Red Admirals. I also spent a fair bit of time crawling along the foot of a grassy dam to get the Rabbit photographs below.